The Challenge of Kinabalu

A little bit like Nepal, Borneo, or Sabah as it's known here has been on my list to visit for ages.  I've wanted to see the jungle and especially the turtles and the orangutans.


The first week of my two here has been quite busy and certainly challenging.  Let me just ask a question.......What had you done by 8am on Friday morning??  I had already eaten 2 bowls of porridge, hiked 2.7km up to the summit of Mount Kinabalu and then hiked back down again.  All by 8am!!


Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in South East Asia and is pretty tough to climb.  The first day is a 6km up hill slog to Laban Rata guesthouse.  Our guide for the trek was Sopinggi, a local man who has climbed the mountain several times.  His moto for the trek was 'kada arau-arau, logot logoton' which means no rush, slowly slowly, at your own pace.  (It's ironic when the trek in Nepal had a moto of 'jam jam' which meant lets go lets go).  There are markers every half km so you know roughly how far you have to go.  It's a trail that is well maintained, but made up of steps and large rocks that have to be navigated.  Tough on the legs that's for sure!  The last km was a real killer as the altitude had significantly increased and made breathing more difficult.  It took me 4 hours to climb the 6km and never had I been so pleased to see the guesthouse and a piping hot glass of Milo in my life.  I don't think that I could have climbed another step.

Mount Kinabalu from the hotel at the base.

Our group at the start of the trek.

An early night was in order as we were starting the summit ascent at 2.45am, yes, AM!  That was to get us to the top for sunrise.  The sight was a pretty amazing one to see really.  Everything was pitch black and all that lit the way of our ascent was a trail of small torch lights that looked like fireflies flitting in the night sky.  It was strangely reassuring to see lights ahead of you as it gave you an idea of where the trail went.  Occasions occurred on the climb when there were no lights and I found it unsettling.  Once we had cleared the tree line and finished with the steps, a section of flat, granite rock greeted us and we had to use ropes to pull ourselves up.  I was not overly happy with this section, especially as seeing was a luxury as it was dark! After what seemed like forever, we reached a ridge and finally saw the summit.  It was still a way ahead, but we were spurred on by the cracks of yellow and orange seeping through the clouds.

With half a mile left.

Me at the summit at 5.45am!

Sunrise from the summit.

We made the summit in 3 hours and were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise over the Sula Sea.  Views of Kota Kinabalu were also seen, although the city disappeared in the haze as the sun rose.  It was chilly on the summit so hanging around was not really an option.  The walk down magnified our achievements in the dark and showcased the sheer faces of the rocks we had scaled earlier.  Breakfast was a welcome treat once back at the guesthouse before the 6km downhill descent.  If I said I had jelly legs by the end then that would be an understatement!!  I had very sore knees and my quads were screaming 'no more stairs or steps PLEASE!'.  My legs are still sore 4 days later!!  It was worth every step though.


Once we were down we headed to Poring, which has natural hot springs.  My legs got soaked in a lovely hot thermal bath which was very relaxing.  The complex in Poring also has a butterfly house and waterfalls so we wandered (albeit very slowly) to the waterfall and got our feet eaten by the little fish which was surprisingly relaxing, if a little ticklish.

Soaking the sore muscles at the hot springs.

Enjoying a dip at the falls.

The ticklish feet eating fish!

A visit into the jungle has completed my first week here.  We didn't see anything too exciting but found a beautiful, brightly coloured kingfisher, some little monkeys and a monatar lizard.  We stayed one night in triangular huts in the middle of the jungle and one night with a local Malay family.  I stayed with a 70 year old couple who were very sweet and produced amazing home cooked food for dinner and breakfast.  Luckily, I was with Jo (our guide) as they spoke no English at all and she translated for me.

Helping with the washing up.

The family and I.

Tomorrow I'm off to Turtle Island for some snorkelling and then it's off to Sepilok to see the orangutans.

Bye Bye Nepal!

It's been a nice last few days here.  I visited Chitwan National Park again and managed to do all the things that the heavy rain prevented last time.  We took the dug out canoe ride along the calm waters of the Rapti river into the jungle and walked for several hours on the hunt for the wildlife that lives there.  We were about to give up hope of seeing anything when we finally came across a rhino munching on the grasses.  Sadly, a tiger remained illusive.

A one horned rhino in Chitwan National Park

A crocodile in Chitwan National Park

Spotted deer, Chitwan National Park

I think that what struck me most about the Chitwan jungle this time was the sheer tranquility and beauty of the place.  It's not like the jungle of the Amazon, it's more like forest, with majestic trees towering up and huge varieties of flora growing on the ground.  I think that with all the mud and leeches last time I visited, I didn't appreciate all the natural beauty and peacefulness.  A ride on an elephant this time enhanced the calmness (although avoiding the trees that slapped in your face as the elephant trundled on through dense forest was not so peaceful!).

The elephant I rode on into the
jungle.

My time in Nepal is now almost over.  I'm leaving on a flight to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to go and explore the jungles of Borneo.

I've had such a lovely time here in Nepal.  It really is a beautiful country, filled with people who are so friendly, kind and helpful.  I would love to come and visit again and do some more trekking in the Everest region.

Next post from another country, that's always exciting!!

A week hiking in the Himalayas

I was sooooo excited about trekking in the Annapurna Range once our itinerary had been changed and the whole week really has been amazing.  It's been very tough and I have definitely decided that 7 days of trekking is enough and I could never make the whole 3 week circuit on the full Annapurna Trek.  My knees held up very well and I only had a twinge here and there.  It was a miracle when you think that on one day alone I climbed 4,600 steps, let alone all the others on the rest of the days!!


Our route took us on a circular route from Pokhara via Hile, Ghorepani, Tadapani, Ghandruk, Chhomrong and Pothana.  The total distance was about 70km and took in some of the best views of the Himalayan Range that Nepal has to offer.


Throughout the week we stayed in basic tea houses in small villages along to route of the trail.  Facilities were quite basic, but we were well fed and toasty at night.  We were amazed at how chilly it got.  We had a good support team of porters and guides, all local to the Pokhara area and they carried all our bags and sleeping bags.  Most days they beat us to the tea houses, even though they were carrying about 24kg each!!

An early morning alarm on day 3 was well worth the effort of getting up for spectacular panoramic views of the range.  Poon Hill was very busy and hard to climb up to (yet more steps!) but my goodness me, what a view!

View of the Himalayan Range
from Poon Hill - 3210m

A local lady at one of the teahouses 
where we had morning break.

Our amazing porters.

Clear skies as the sun rises.

Hom and Ardan, our leaders.

I've certainly seen a mix of scenery this week.  Rice terraces mix easily with the steep valleys and dramatic snow capped mountain peaks.  They look like little blankets of velvet with dark green edging when you see the terraces from afar.  Clear blue skies have added to the beauty of the area and we were finally cheering that we seemed to have lost the rain and the cloud.


The trek was really hard but the sense of achievement felt when you realise how far you have come and how many up hills you conquered is worth every step and sore muscle!


I'm back in Pokhara now and have just taken an Ultra Light flight over the area.  I've wanted to go in one for a while and it was super fun!  We whizzed along above the valley and I had lovely views of the lake, mountains and city area.  I forgot to write that I took a mountain flight over Everest which I was a little disappointed with.  This was much better than that as there was no clouds and the little plane had open sides so the pictures weren't through a window.

The Ultra Light plane that I flew in
over Pokhara.

Views from the Ultra Light across the 
ake to the mountains.

I'm leaving here on Monday to head back to Chitwan National Park on the hunt for some more rhinos and a tiger!